Didn't they found cities like Dublin though? I think English got around 1000(nothing compared to the influence French has had)words that has old norse origin, thursday(thors day) being an obvious example, but also less obvious words like Kraken.

Dublin was founded by Vikings I'm pretty sure, not the Anglo-Saxons. But most of the population back then lived in the country side. A city doesn't mean much.

Also... Old Norse and Old English are so closely related, it's a bit unfair to compare its influence to French.

I'm pretty sure Japan, despite natives referring to their country as (phonetically) 'Nihon', got it's modern Western names from a long game of 'Chinese Whispers' (pardon the awful pun) of translations of the name of the country in Chinese languages. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Japan#Jipangu)

The naming of countries in other languages is fascinating and its hard to pick up a pattern that fits all name choices. It seems most are a case-by-case thing, which was affected by the knowledge which people possessed at the time of 'discovering' each country. Most do make sense when you look into them though.

The written characters are usually referred to as Chinese. So it's a written language.[COLOR="red"]

If I understood it correctly, Mandarin is a western word. In China they just call it Zhong wen which basically means Chinese language (actually it's center language but China is zhong guo which is center country. So you can see the connection).

If I understood it correctly, Mandarin is a western word. In China they just call it Zhong wen which basically means Chinese language (actually it's center language but China is zhong guo which is center country. So you can see the connection).

Well, actually, in China they call that the Common Language. In Taiwan it's called the National Language (same as Japanese in Japan, incidentally). Pre-Republican times, it's probably called the Capital Tongue or the Bureucrat's Language (which is where Mandarin came from). The term you used mostly refers to Chinese, as in the written language ("Chinese words").

Well, actually, in China they call that the Common Language. In Taiwan it's called the National Language (same as Japanese in Japan, incidentally). Pre-Republican times, it's probably called the Capital Tongue or the Bureucrat's Language (which is where Mandarin came from). The term you used mostly refers to Chinese, as in the written language ("Chinese words").

Well okay. There is one "standard Chinese" but different parts of China use a different dialect which you cant really call it because they are different languages.

Cantonese is another completely different example separate of the dialects and in Taiwan they write/speak traditional Chinese more though main land Chinese is gaining ground there as well. My teacher also says that in Taiwan, English slang is very popular as well. So some classic words are dying out for something English sounding.

"I need to calm the elements, and through our sacred bond we will - wait, is that a fucking boss? I'M SO FUCKING ANGRY! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM! NO, WAIT! I'M GOING TO RAPE HIM THEN KILL HIM! WITH SPOONS! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEE!"

We generally use different names for places in different regions due to historical factors. The other is reason is etymological.

For exemple. The United States of America.

The geographical region is America. But the United States is only a title which means something specific in English. It means united states...saying the same for exemple in Spanish or Hungarian would fail to convey the meaning of the title. Thus Spaniards translate it to Estados Unidos de America, Hungarians call it Amerikai Egyesült Államok. Which in essence means exactly the same thing. The same goes with names such as Great Britain which in Spanish would be Gran Bretaña. Note that Bretaña is a loan word from the French Bretonnia, which is in turn an evolution of the Roman Britannia, which in turn is a loan word from a Greek explorer who heard it from original P-Celtic native islanders. In the case of Hungarians the name of Great Britain is translated as Nagy Britannia. Which again is again a combination of a historical loan word and the title translation.

Now to point at another issue is that for exemple Hungary in the native tongue is called Magyarország which means Country of the Magyar's, Magyar being the name Hungarians use to refer to themselves. For the rest of the world due to historical reasons Magyar's are Hungarian's or descendents of the Hun's despite of the fact that there is little real relation betwen Hun's and Magyar's beyond of the fact that both were originally nomadic raiders with similar customs and military tactics.

Sometimes a translation of name place gives a better idea to a foreigner what the place is about then the use of it's original name. Other times using an established form in different languages helps avoiding confusion.

Better we stick to something that is already working just fine. Or if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

Originally Posted by Orlong

It doesnt destroy the land to bury styrofoam 25 feet below the ground

Today Obama once again kneeled at the altar of environmental naziism and hurt this once great country. He has now banned all drilling in the Atlantic Ocean

For some reason, in my language, Vienna is called Beč (Bech is the pronunciation). Apparently, after googling a bit, it's because "Wien" means a sausage on Hungarian (in case of confusion, Croatia was ruled by Hungary and Austria for centuries), and a sausage is called bečkerek on Croatian. And people shortened it. Although I've never heard the word "bečkerek" in my life so I'm a a bit confused myself.

The same goes with names such as Great Britain which in Spanish would be Gran Bretaña. Note that Bretaña is a loan word from the French Bretonnia, which is in turn an evolution of the Roman Britannia, which in turn is a loan word from a Greek explorer who heard it from original P-Celtic native islanders. In the case of Hungarians the name of Great Britain is translated as Nagy Britannia. Which again is again a combination of a historical loan word and the title translation.

I think you mean "is a loan word from the French Bretagne" - Bretonnia is the French/Arthurian nation from the Warhammer world.

No, they just didn't bring large enough numbers to significantly change the population.

False. The maximum population of the empire at its height, spanning from the Tyne to the Euphrates, was at most about 55 million. Local populatiobs were in fact relatively small thus enabling the barbarian invaders to have significant effects.

1. The name "Hungarian" most likely does not come from the Huns, but the Onogurs.

2. While the western mediterranean coast of Africa was indeed called "Barbary Coast" for a while in the early modern age, the Romans never called that territory "Barbaria".

The Romans called all uncivilized (from their viewpoint) people beyond the borders of the empire barbarians. The lands beyond the borders of the empire were sometimes referred to as Barbaricum. The word barbarian is actually of Greek origin btw. It was a term for all non-Greek people originally.

The Roman name for northwestern Africa was Mauretania (present day north Morocco and west Algeria) and Numidia (present day east Algeria).